Global Investigations Review (GIR) has named John Smith among its list of the most respected Washington, D.C. sanctions lawyers. Former Director of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and current co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s National Security practice, John brings to the firm unmatched experience in economic sanctions, enforcement, and national security.

Clients turn to John for his deep experience and unique perspective on the complexities and escalating risk of U.S. and multilateral sanctions. Within the United States and globally, he is a trusted advisor for clients navigating significant civil and criminal enforcement actions by U.S. and other government prosecutors and regulators.

Under his leadership as a top official at OFAC, John:

• Supervised the investigation, preparation, strategy, and settlement of dozens of major enforcement cases for hundreds of millions of dollars involving apparent sanctions and export control violations by global financial institutions and corporations;
• Led the development and imposition of some of the most significant sanctions ever involving Iran, Russia, North Korea, Syria, supporters of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction proliferators, malicious cyber actors, transnational criminal organizations, and narcotics traffickers; and
• Acted for a period as the Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI), overseeing economic sanctions, illicit finance, and AML efforts by OFAC and other TFI components, including the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

GIR spent several months surveying practitioners and publicly available information to pinpoint individuals handling the most significant cases. The list of top 25 D.C.-based practitioners showcases several former DOJ prosecutors and lawyers with senior experience at both the state and treasury departments. You can read more in GIR’s article, “The DC sanctions lawyers to have on speed dial.”